Details From Search Warrants On Former Saint John Councillor

We have more technical details from the search warrants in the investigation of former Saint John common councillor Donnie Snook.

The 568-page document describes events leading from March 2011 to Snook's January arrest, including the installation of a surveillance camera on a power pole outside his home. The camera recorded who was at 575 Martha Avenue while explicit chat sessions were happening with undercover police.

On January 9th, an officer observed while all the lights were on at the home, no one answered the door. Snook was the only one inside. The chat logs from that time show a message saying "some one at the door....see you later?"'

The warrants also indicate the person sharing the explicit images was hacking into their neighbour's wi-fi connection. However, the Mac Address of the computer used to transmit them was traced to Snook's home.

The chat user promised the undercover cop "live action" in order to win his trust -- but only with their face covered, because if they were caught, "[they] would die." Cameras, computers, a tablet, phones and other electronic devices were all confiscated in the search. 

Snook's next court appearance is on March 11 when he is expected to enter a plea.

Lady Ganong Awarded Queen's Jubilee Medal

A local lady has been given a great honor from the Queen.

Diane Ganong, of St. Stephen, being presented with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Lieutenant Governor.

The award was given after Diane's many contributions to the community and to Canada.
Some of those contributions include Chairmanship of the Extra Mural Hospital, service on the National Alzheimer's Board, and President of UNICEF Canada.

$2 Million Boost For Garcelon Civic Center

A funding announcement in the form of $2 million dollars being made in St. Stephen today.

The federal and provincial governments each giving an additional million for the Garcelon Civic Center to ensure the project gets done, on budget and on time. A news release from the province states the support is in addition to the project originally announced in 2009. That included $6.2 million from Infrastructure Canada'as Building Canada Fund, $6.2 million from the province of New Brunswick and $5.2 million by the Town of St. Stephen.


MP for South-West New Brunswick John Williamson says, "Investments in projects likr the Garcelon Civic Centre help provide important services to the community and businesses, strengthen the local economy and improve the quality of life for residents." Williamson also stated that job creation and economic growth have always been the main focus of his government.

Premier David Alward tells Tide News the Garcelon and the new hotel will have a significant economic impact on the community. He says, "What that means to solidify the economy and in downtown St. Stephen is exceptional. It means that people can be working in St. Stephen and that is great news for the area."
Alward, who lives in Woodstock, says the impact of their local Civic Center has been phenomenal for his community.

The announcement was followed by a tour of the Civic Centre site in downtown St. Stephen in which Premier Alward, Williamson, and MLA Curtis Malloch were given a tour, among others present, of the soon-to-be arena and pool.

Snook Search Warrants To Be Released Today

We could soon know more about the case against former Saint John common councillor Donnie Snook.

Search warrants in the case are scheduled to be released later today although some of the information will be blacked out.

The two-term councillor resigned last month amid 8 charges relating to child pornography, child exploitation, and sexual interference with a child under 16. The 40 year old was arrested at his home on January 9th and resigned as a Councillor on the 17th.

School Security Getting Boost After Newtown Tragedy

Security at schools in the Anglophone South School District is being enhanced in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut before Christmas. 

There will be new I-D badges for school district workers who are not attached to any particular school but perform jobs at several of them when the need arises. 

Superintendent Zoe Watson tells Tide News school safety is always uppermost in their minds at the school district and there are some schools in Saint John which have an intercom outside and you have to be buzzed in. 

The new logo for the school district was designed by a grade 9 student at Hampton High, Melanie Levesque in her art class.

Graham Takes Responsibilty For Atcon Conflict

The Province's conflict of interest commissioner says former premier Shawn Graham broke provincial rules because of his involvement in his government's decision to give financial help to a construction company.

    Patrick Ryan has released his report into allegations that Graham was in a conflict of interest in 2009 when his Liberal government gave a $50 million loan guarantee to Miramichi-based Atcon.
 
    Ryan says Graham should have removed himself from cabinet discussions over the loan guarantee because his father was a director of Vanerply, a Swedish subsidiary of Atcon,  and a paid consultant of Vanerply and other Atcon companies.
 
    Ryan says while Graham didn't check whether his father had ties to Atcon at the time the loan guarantee was offered, it was his responsibility to know.

    Despite the loan guarantee, Atcon went bankrupt in 2010.    Ryan is recommending Graham be fined $3,500 and reprimanded.
 
    Graham issued a statement saying the fault was an oversight' on his part and he accepts full responsibility for his actions.

More Snow And Some Rain For Wednesday

Some of us in Charlotte County are still digging ourselves out from the snowstorm -- but Environment Canada says "Don't put your shovels away just yet."

Meteorologist Claude Cote tells Tide News they are currently watching another low pressure system that will hit Wednesday. Cote says this system will not be as severe as the storm we felt this past weekend. He says we can expect up to 5-10 mms of rain, and another 5-10 cms of snow on Wednesday.




Cote says Charlotte County recieved 20 cms of snow by Sunday evening and winds that reached 93 kms per hour in the St. Stephen and Bayside areas.

NB Power reporting over 55 hundred in the province were without juice this morning, including 625 affected in Charlotte County, most of those being in Pennfield.

Another Sunday Storm Is Coming Our Way

Charlotte County can expect 20 centimetres of snow by tomorrow morning.

Environment Canada meterologist Jeremy March tells Tide News we are on the western end of the storm system.
 
He says the entire province will experience the high winds and blowing snow.

Saint John is looking at 25 centimetres of snow while Quispamsis, Rothesay, Hampton and Sussex could get up to 35 centimetres of snow. 

Due to the impending storm, the Princess of Acadia will be leaving early at 2pm from Digby for Saint John.

Upper Mills Man In Hot Water

A Upper Mills man has been arrested for assaulting three peace officers and resisting arrest in an incident near a home near St. Stephen.

Early Friday afternoon two District 1 RCMP and an SPCA officer went to the home to look into the welfare of a dog.

 A 57-year-old man at a home in Upper Mills became violent and assaulted the SPCA officer. 

When police attempted to arrest him, he resisted and physically assaulted one of the police officers. The second officer stepped in and the man was eventually taken into custody.

He was later released on a promise to appear and is expected to face charges of assaulting peace officers and resisting arrest.

Government Warned Shale Gas Will Need Better Oversight Of Air Quality

If and when full scale shale gas production moves ahead in the province and becomes a reality, there has to be better monitoring of air quality at production sites because there isn't any now. 

That, according to the Health Watch Advisor for the Conservation Council who points to Penobsquis with its 16 gas well pads and 30 gas wells. Inka Milewski tells Tide News government oversight is among the missing despite all the industrialisation with no permanent air quality monitoring regime in place and the province not reporting publicly on how good or bad the air is.
 
Milewski claims the air at gas production sites is a major public health concern because of the presence of carcinogens in the form of volatile organic compounds like benzine.

2 Dead, Child Injured After Car Crash

A man and a woman are dead and a child serious injured following a two-vehicle crash on the TransCanada Highway near Salisbury.

The collision occurring at around 8:20 p.m. A vehicle heading westbound was hit by a vehicle travelling the wrong way, eastbound in the westbound lane.

Both drivers, a 24-year-old man from Havelock and a 69-year-old woman from Grande-Digue, died at the scene. The woman was the lone occupant in the vehicle that was travelling in the wrong direction on the divided highway.

A 25-year-old woman and two young children, aged three and four, who were passengers in the other vehicle were transported to hospital. One of the children was airlifted to the IWK Hospital in Halifax.

The names of the deceased are not being released at this time pending proper notification of their families.

Fredericton Woman Charged With Attempted Murder

A Fredericton woman charged with faking a home invasion in a bid to murder her husband.

Police in Fredericton say they have charged a 51-year-old woman with the attempted murder.  Officers responded to 911 call regarding a break and enter at a home on Anderson Street on the city's south side around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday.

A 57-year-old man was taken to hospital where he was treated and later released. Police say their investigation has determined that there wasn't a break and enter.Police say 51-year-old Rada Veselinovic was subsequently arrested and appeared in court today where she was charged with attempted murder.

Hockey Team Filling Shelves At Wood & Wardrobe

Do some spring cleaning before you hit up the hockey game.

The Spartans Boys hockey team is asking for spectators to bring in a bag of household items to donate to the St. Croix Vocational Centre when coming to their home game against Rothesay tomorrow night at the Border Arena in St. Stephen.

The Vocational Centre has been hit hard, as of late, with low donations, which they sell at the Wood & Wardrobe Thrift Store to fund programs for intellectually disabled adults in Charlotte County.

Tomorrow is also Spartan Subway Seniors Night with special events planned for intermissions.

The boys hit the ice for warm-up at 7:30, puck drops at 7:50pm.

Man Dies Before Movie About Him Can Be Released

A funeral service will be held this Friday morning at 11 in St. Martins United Church for a man from West Quaco about whom a movie has been made to be released in the spring.
 
Craig Morrison's ordeal has been turned into a movie called "Still" starring character actor James Cromwell who played the warden in the Tom Hanks' movie "The Green Mile".  

Morrison, who passed away at the age of 93, had a running battle with the New Brunswick Royal District Planning Commission about building and staying in his own home without using stamped lumber. The province charged he was not following the national building code.

Coats For Kids Drive Sets Record For NBCC

The numbers are in for the annual Coats 4 Kids Drive put on by our local community college.

NBCC Student Services Representative Carolyn Tatton tells Tide News a total of 205 coats were donated from October through to January.

Tatton says, this is not just the most ever collected at the St. Andrews school, its almost double their record.

She says among other winter clothing, an anonymous donor gave more than a dozen pairs of homemade mittens, as well as one of their students knitted winter hats.

All donations will be split between the Volunteer Centre of Charlotte County in St. Stephen and the Community Living Centre in St. George.

Tatton says she is very excited to begin the Drive again and she already has people telling her they are saving their coats to donate for next year.

Blood Clinic Today In St. Stephen

Blood. It's in you to give.

Canadian Blood Services coming to St. Stephen this afternoon for a blood donor clinic.

CBS Community Development Coordinator Thomas Bishop tells Tide News the blood can be used for infants, blood transfusions, and most commonly -- victims in car crashes and accidents.

The clinic will be held at the St. Stephen Legion, located at 43 Queen Street, today from 2-4 and again from 5:30-7:30 tonight.

Saint John Doctor Facing More Charges

More charges of sexual assault have been laid against a doctor who has practiced medicine in the Saint John area for more than 25 years. 

8 of 9 charges were laid a couple of days ago against Dr. Alan Cockeram, a gastroenterologist who has an office in the north end. 

In response, Horizon Health has announced restrictions will be imposed on Dr. Cockeram when he treats female patients for an undetermined amount of time. No decision has been made on whether his license to practice medicine will be suspended. 

A preliminary hearing on the charges will in June which will determine if there's enough evidence to warrant a trial.

Strong Winds Coming With Weekend Storm

From the deep freeze to a winter wonderland.... Southern New Brunswick is bracing for a weekend storm.

Claude Cote of Environment Canada tells Tide News the snow will start falling tomorrow.

He says when expect about a centimetre of snow during the day tomorrow with conditions worsening Friday night and most of the snow will fall Saturday along with high winds causing reduced visibility.

Cote says the storm's track has changed so they are now predicting 10 to 15 centimetres of snow by daybreak on Sunday.

A Covered Bridge Seems To Be What The People Want

A meeting held last night (Wednesday) to discuss options for the Maxwell Crossing Covered Bridge stirred up a lot of debate, answered a lot of questions, and left many unanswered. 

Regardless, Department of Transportation representative Alan Kerr said he believed it was a unanimous decision from the public that residents want their covered bridge repaired.

Money wasn't the only thing on the table, the value of the covered bridge as a tourist attraction to Charlotte County is a key component.

Local Resident Annabelle Juneau tells Tide News besides fixing the bridge, we need to start spending some tourism dollars on signage to better promote the covered bridges throughout the province. "At the end of the day, this is something, especially with the new highway being there, that we need to promote those covered bridges. Get the signs out, and I'm hoping we'll see the Department of Tourism step up to the plate as well."
Juneau says New Brunswick is known for covered bridges, "I think if we reach out to other people in New Brunswick that they will probably feel as we do. That we have to keep these covered bridges, there aren't many left."

Some members of St. Stephen Town Council were also present. Councillor Jim Maxwell spoke on stage making his opinion quite clear to DOT representatives. He told them, "We know you're not here to tell us you're tearing down that bridge."

Councillor Allan MacEachern tells Tide News even looking at the financial side of things, repairing the bridge makes sense. "I'm in favor of the covered bridge because it is return, and I'm all about return on investment. It just makes sense to get money out of tourism later, it makes it worth more as a covered bridge."

Before LSD President Vern Faulkner closed the meeting, he handed out parting gifts to each of the DOT representatives -- bags of Covered Bridge potato chips.

DOT's Side Of The Covered Bridge

The future of the Maxwell Crossing Covered Bridge is now in the hands of Minister of Transportation, Claude Williams.

A group of approximately 70 people coming to a public meeting last night (Wednesday) to share their opinions on whether the historical bridge should be repaired, or replaced with a modular one.






DOT Representative Alan Kerr said his purpose was to gather information from taxpayers and then forward that information to the Minister of Transportation. Kerr said, "It's not a matter of if the bridge can be repaired, but is it financially feasible." Kerr estimated the costs of $300 thousand dollars to build a run-of-the-mill bridge, compared to $500 thousand to repair the old one.
One resident noted the life expectancy of a covered bridge is practically double that of a metal one. The man asked Kerr, "Let's say a covered bridge will last 80 years. How long will a metal bridge last?" Kerr responded, "Forty to fifty years." The man then asked if it would not be more financially feasible to build a covered bridge for the same cost in the long term, only a covered bridge would have the tourism factor.


Another question that was hot on everyone's mind was "Why can't the insurance from the car owner pay for the damages?" Kerr says they are currently pursuing an insurance claim, but it would be highly unlikely insurance would cover the entire cost. Many payment options were discussed, including money the province and fundraising by the people.

Kerr told the audience he believed it was obvious, the decision from residents was unanimous in keeping the covered bridge.
He is urging all residents to write or email the Minister with their concerns before a decision is made.
(Picture from left to right: DOT District Highway Superintendant Allan Acheson, DOT Asst. District Transport Engineer Mike Roseheart, DOT District Transport Engineer Alan Kerr, and Local Service District Dennis-Weston President Vern Faulkner )